Pages

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Digital Bullet Journaling

Bullet Journaling is a hot topic right now on the internet, but what is it really? In short, it just a paper note book that you ... well ... take notes in. It really a simple system. I have been using a the same (sort of) system for a number of years now. Being in the army, I get a note book and I jot down bullet notes for tasks that need to be done at work, notes for soldier issues that need to be taken care of, and generally anything work related.

What Bullet Journaling adds is, well, art work and consistency. You know what, here is a video ...

This system actually works very well. While I have used a more basic system at work for years, I never really tried to structure it in anyway. The upside to no structure is that you don't really have to think about it. The downside is that you can loose track of notes or tasks, which I have done, many times. This system solves those concerns.

However, the inner gadget geek in me just can't let sleeping dogs lay.

A while back I got an iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil. I got the pencil as a whim really. I had never owned an iPad before and I really didn't know how useful it (the pencil) would be, or what exactly I would be doing with it. I played with the notes app, a couple of "art" type apps, and then I put the pencil away. I only used the pencil when I would try to find a use for the thing. Honestly, I am no artist. So while I was loving the iPad Pro, and have been working to make a full transition into the "post-pc" era, I still hadn't really found a use for the pencil.

Not until my wife showed me Bullet Journaling. While yes, it is "supposed" to be on paper, and some people take it to the extreme (check out pinterest for what I mean), I am very much a gadget geek. If I can remove paper from my life, I will do it.

After a lot of searching (more than an hour, less than a day) I found the perfect solution. Or at least the perfect solution for me anyway. Enter PDF Expert.

With the app PDF Expert, I can create a new, blank PDF file, set the page style to dot grid, and even add or rearrange pages on the fly. With its myriad of markup options for annotation, I have been able to easily move the "analog" system to digital.

The app is not free. I is currently going for $9.99 US in the App Store, but with all of the features this app has, it is quickly becoming my go-to app for all of my PDF needs, and honestly, blows Adobe out of the water is ease of use and functionality.

The great thing is, you don't even need an iPad Pro or a Apple Pencil. You can do all of this with a regular iPad and your fingers. What I can't seem to do, is to get Blogger.com to work well with Safari for iOS....